Business as Usual (Off The Subject) (14 page)

“I mean it, Tina. Stay. Away.”

“Damn, Scarlett. No need to be such a bitch. It’s not like the two of us were going to become besties anyway. I took her to her car and dropped her off. I even offered to help her open a match-making business, but she flat-out turned me down.”

God help me, this conversation is making me even more intrigued with the girl. Despite my better judgment, I find myself asking, “Why would she start a match-making service?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Tina asks.

“Would I ask if I had?”

Tina releases a throaty, sexy laugh. “I like you, Masterson. I think we should keep you around.” She leans forward on the table, looking into Scarlett’s face. “We’re a bit
incestuous
around here.” She lingers on the word. “You see, Scarlett used to be roommates with Caroline Hunter until she moved in with Tucker last summer.”

“After he quit the Chicago Fire.”

“Don’t encourage her, Ben,” Scarlett grunts.

I know I shouldn’t, yet I’m curious.

“Yep,” Tina says. “That’s right. So Caroline was left without a roommate and Scarlett and I were
friends
.” The way she says the word makes me question it. “Anyway, I wanted out of the dorms, so Scarlett suggested I move in with her bestie.”

“Okay…” I say, wondering where she was going with this.

“Here’s where it gets interesting.” She sits up and turns to face me. “Reed moved here last August with his baby sister. They came to the party Tucker threw Scarlett for her high GRE scores and Caroline was there. The sparks that flew between Caroline and Reed were strong enough to start a raging inferno, only Caroline was too busy looking for a rich boyfriend and Reed was too busy being a stuck-up prick. Baby sis decided to take matters into her own hands and got the Monroe Foundation to sponsor the fashion department’s fall fashion show because she knew Caroline would be working on it. And she got Reed to be the head of the committee.” She grins. “You would have thought getting laid regularly would mellow the guy, and it did until a couple of weeks ago.”

“So Caroline and Reed hooked up?”

“Keep up, Masterson. I didn’t think you were slow-witted. Yes, they hooked up, and those two…” she releases a low whistle. “Let’s just say that the walls in our apartment are thin and I heard things most people don’t want to hear.” A slow, evil grin spreads across her face. “Good thing I’m not most people.”

Scarlett rolls her eyes in disgust.

“Reed Pendergraft is a dirty,
dirty
boy,” she drawls.

“
Enough, Tina
.” Scarlett looks close to blowing up.

I hold up my hands. “Yeah, I have no desire to hear about his exploits in the bedroom.”

She lifts an eyebrow coyly. “They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I bet Virgin Mary is a freak in the bedroom too. Maybe you want to find out.”

“That analogy refers to offspring, not siblings,” Scarlett says.

Tina shrugs her indifference.

“Yeah, no thanks,” I say. Yes, I’m interested, but I need to keep Reed on my good side. “I’ve had enough freaks to last a lifetime.”

She leans forward and curls her fingers around my thigh. “I want to hear more about your freaks.”

I brush her hand off. “Not a chance. Don’t you have work to do?”

She looks up at me through thick, black eyelashes. “Nothing more interesting than what’s in front of me right now.”

“Leave Ben alone or I’ll write you up for sexual harassment,” Scarlett says, turning a page in her notebook.

Tina rolls her chair back to her table. “God, I realize you’re all a bunch of math nerds, but can’t you have fun like
ever
?” Grabbing her purse, she stands. “I’m taking a smoke break.”

I expect Scarlett to stop her—Reed has specifically forbidden smoke breaks—but her lips just press together in irritation as she watches Tina walk out of the room.

“She didn’t always used to be like that,” Scarlett says after a moment. “And she’s right, we used to be friends. But she’s changed so much in the last year and I can’t figure out why. When I try to bring it up, she changes the subject.” Releasing a sigh, she rubs her temple. “Sorry for her behavior.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. I can handle her, but it makes it difficult since we work together so much.”

She sighs again. “Well, Reed’s just about had it with her, so I’m not sure how much you’ll have to put up with her.”

“Damn, he’s firing people right and left.”

“He wasn’t like this until the last month or so. He’s always been a perfectionist, but something’s going on with him. I thought it was about his sister, but Caroline says it’s not. Tucker is over him, saying he’s upset Caroline one too many times… I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, though. I think he’s acting out because he’s under some kind of pressure.”

I release a bitter laugh. “You’re nicer than most people. I could have used you as friend last fall.”

She looks up, her brow wrinkling with confusion. “What?”

I shake my head. “Nothing.”

If Scarlett’s right about Reed, things are bound to get rockier in the math lab.

Lexi

I stare at the message on my phone and my breath catches.

Come to the math lab. I have some information
.

When Scarlett and I spoke in the hall outside the math lab several days ago, I asked her to let me know if she heard of anyone looking for a roommate. She insisted Reed would pitch a fit.

“That’s why I really need for you not to tell him,” I said. “But you and I both know it’s time. Me living with Reed and Caroline isn’t helping their relationship.”

She sighed and leaned against the wall. “I think they have more problems than you living with them.”

“I know. Something’s going on with my brother. Do you have any idea what it is? He won’t tell me.”

She shook her head. “After Caroline showed up on my doorstep Friday night, she told me what was going on, including how she went to his office and didn’t find him there.” She scowled. “Tucker was ready to go beat him up.”

“Again?”

She grinned. “Well, technically, last time he only punched him for making Caroline upset. He claims Reed’s out of strikes. The only reason Tucker hasn’t gone after him is that I threatened to deck him if he did.” She shook her head and frowned. “Obviously that won’t help anything. If it did, I’d be tempted to let him have at it.”

I grinned despite the fact that she was talking about her boyfriend hurting my brother. “Caroline’s lucky that Tucker looks out for her like that.”

“He considers her my sister since we’re so close. And you’re lucky to have a brother who cares so much about you.”

“I love Reed, but he’s a little over-zealous.”

She lifted an eyebrow and grinned. “You mean like Tucker.”

There was no comparison between the two, but I knew it would be pointless to argue that fact. “Look, I want to help Reed, but I can’t unless I know what’s going on. Will you let me know if you hear anything?”

She nodded. “Even though I’m not a fan of eavesdropping and spying, I’ll keep an eye out. I’ll let you know first if I find anything out.”

And with that, she left.

Four days have gone by without a word, and now she’s sent me a message. Is it about an apartment or Reed?

Reed has his own classes to attend on Friday morning, so I know I won’t run into him. Scarlett is waiting for me in his office, a serious expression on her face.

It’s about Reed.

I’m nervous when I enter the math lab, mostly about why Scarlett wants to talk to me, but also because I’m worried about running into Ben. I recognized him right way when I was talking with Scarlett the other day, and I don’t want him to figure out that I was the woman he talked to at the bar. Not that he probably remembers anyway. He meets tons of people at his job and I was wearing a wig. But he works with Reed, and if he tells my brother about me dancing and practically making out with Rob on Saturday night, Reed’s liable to lock me away in an ivory tower for the rest of my natural life.

Unfortunately, the other person I was hoping to avoid is sitting at a table. A grin spreads across Tina’s face when she sees me. “Hey, Curly Sue.”

I ignore her as I walk into the office and close the door behind me. Scarlett is resting her butt against Reed’s desk, waiting for me. “What did you find out?”

“Nothing definite, but there’s something I think you should know about.”

“Did you tell Caroline?”

Scarlett doesn’t answer, which is answer enough.

I take a deep breath. “Go on.”

“It may be nothing, but I’ve seen Reed take two phone calls while he was with a student, and he left the kid he was tutoring to take the calls in his office.”

“That doesn’t sound like him.”

“It’s not. And when he came back out, he wasn’t in a good mood.”

I’m grateful that I’m not imagining things, but I don’t know what to do with this information.

“Lexi, that’s not all.” Scarlett says, her forehead wrinkled with worry.

I take a deep breath. “Okay.”

“I saw him with a woman.”

I feel lightheaded and my heart seizes. “What do you mean saw him with a woman?”

She shakes her head, looking upset. “It’s not how I made it sound, but it still doesn’t look good.”

“Tell me.”

“After one of the calls, he kept looking at his cell. About thirty minutes later, he looked at his phone and then announced he was taking a break. He hadn’t finished tutoring the student at his table.”

My heart stutters.

“I’m ashamed to admit that I did this…but I wasn’t tutoring anyone at the time, so I followed him.”

“It’s okay, Scarlett,” I force myself to say.

“He went to the first floor and a woman was there waiting for him. They embraced and then left together.”

Tears burn my eyes. “I don’t understand. There has to be a logical explanation, Scarlett. I know Reed. I
know
him. He would never cheat on anything—a test, his taxes, and most of all, he would
never
cheat on Caroline.”

Scarlett’s face is flushed. “God, I hope so, Lexi. If he is, it will kill her.”

I nod, tears clogging my throat. “I know.”

“I’ll keep watching.”

“Okay. I will too.” Although I suspect Scarlett is now looking for proof that he is cheating while I’m looking for evidence that he
isn’t
.

Scarlett opens the door to leave.

“I’m just going to sit here for a minute.” I settle into his desk chair.

“Stay as long as you want. I’m sure Reed won’t mind.”

I hear her tell Tina she’s taking a break, and then she leaves the room.

I need to figure out what Reed is up to. Why would he meet a woman and then leave with her? Maybe she’s a fellow graduate student, and Reed is studying with her? If so, Scarlett would probably know her, though, and he wouldn’t lie to Caroline about the whole thing. I’m truly at a loss.

I’m deep in thought when Tina startles me. “What’s going on, Curly Sue?”

“Not now, Tina,” I grumble.

She barges into Reed’s office and sits in the chair across from his desk, leaning back as she stares into my face. “What’s got you down, little one?”

“None of your business.” I start to stand.

“Is it about your brother and what he’s up to?”

I sit back down. “What do you know?”

She laughs. “I make it my business to know things. You never know when you might need to pull out some information.”

“Then tell me.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t just hand over information. People have to earn it.”

“You don’t have anything.”

She laughs. “Oh really? Scarlett might know that Saint Reed met a woman yesterday, but I bet she doesn’t know her name.”

I suck in a breath. “You’re bluffing.”

She shrugs, looking bored. “Suit yourself.”

When she stands and takes a step toward the door, I say, “Wait.”

A mischievous grin spreads across her face. “I knew you’d see things my way.”

“What do you want?” I ask, gripping the arms of the chair.

She taps a fingernail on the corner of Reed’s desk. “What do I want…”

A student walks into the lab, and he looks confused when he sees only one tutor.

“Duty calls, Tina.”

“He can wait.” She leans to the side in her chair. “What do I want? I want so many things. The question is: What do
you
have that I want?”

“You want me to list my assets?” I ask sarcastically. “How about I email you my portfolio later this afternoon.”

She releases a belly laugh. “Oh, Curly Sue. You are so much more fun than I expected. Not to worry. I already know what I want.”

The fact that she’s given this thought worries me. I stare at her while I wait for her to deliver her demand.

“I want you to go out with me tonight.”

“Sorry, Tina,” I say. “I prefer guys.”

“Oh really?” she laughs. “As far as I can tell, you’re damn near virginal, even if you insist otherwise. Who’s to know which way you swing?” Her smile fades. “But not with me. I just want you to go out for a night of fun with me and my friends. And at the end of the night, I’ll tell you her name.”

“Why?”

“Because you live up to your end and I’ll live up to mine.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Why on earth would you want me to go out with
you
?”

She leans forward, her gaze intense. “Because I think you’re capable of having a really fun time. You just need help.”

While my friends have told me this so often it’s become a mantra, hearing it from Tina feels slimy. “And if I’m not interested?”

She shrugs. “Suit yourself.” She starts to leave again.

She probably doesn’t know anything. Tina is a conniving bitch who likes to stir up trouble. But what if she really does have information? Her stipulation doesn’t make any sense, but I’m willing to play along if I can get answers.

“Fine.” But the thought of going out at all, let alone with Tina, makes me anxious. Before I even realize what I’m saying, I burst out, “But I get to pick the place.”